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Suicide Squad 2: 4 Characters We Want To See Return (And 4 We Don't)

The sequel to Suicide Squad has now officially been titled The Suicide Squad, which sounds like it’s gearing up to be less of a continuation and more of a redo after many fans were disappointed with the 2016 original. Many deemed it rushed, tonally inconsistent, and not quite what fans deserved. James Gunn is in talks to write and direct the sequel following his controversial firing from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. As soon as Marvel Studios dropped him, he was poached by DC Films in the studios' cutthroat battle to have the dominating cinematic universe.

Sure, the general consensus is that DC is far off conquering Marvel, but the tremendous success of Aquaman shows they’re learning from their mistakes and clawing their way to the top. It should be fitting, then, that the guy who brought humor and pathos to the Marvel universe’s obscure outlaws would do the same for DC. So, in anticipation of the upcoming sequel, here are 4 Characters We Want To See Return (And 4 We Don’t) in The Suicide Squad.

8 DON'T WANT: RICK FLAG

Rick Flag is, frankly, unoriginal and uninspired. We’ve seen the guy who follows his superiors’ orders without agreeing with them in every other action movie since the dawn of time. It’s the most boring, straight-laced, humorless, one-note stock character in action cinema. That’s not what The Suicide Squad needs.

It should be DC’s darker Guardians of the Galaxy, with characters whose morals you question but whose comical interplay makes you laugh. Joel Kinnaman is a good actor – Netflix’s Altered Carbon is an intriguing cyberpunk neo-noir and Kinnaman’s 2014 RoboCop remake was far better than expected – but Rick Flag just doesn’t fit the profile for Task Force X.

7 WANT: BATMAN

Ben Affleck might be out as the Dark Knight, but he’ll soon be replaced in time for the Justice League sequel, Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and all the other Worlds of DC movies for which Gotham’s masked crimefighter is needed. And when that new actor is found, hopefully James Gunn will find a part for him in the Suicide Squad sequel.

Batfleck’s brief appearance in a car chase-turned-underwater action sequence in Suicide Squad was one of the movie’s highlights. So, while it won’t be Affleck next time, it’ll still be exciting to see the Caped Crusader make another brief appearance in the sequel.

6 DON'T WANT: CAPTAIN BOOMERANG

The name alone should be enough to tell DC execs that this character doesn’t belong in their dark supervillain team. But Boomerang was actually written as one of the movie’s strongest characters. He had moments of humor, like teasing Diablo with a Zippo, and he fits the bill of badass outlaw who cracks jokes. However, there’s nothing else to his character besides the comic relief.

There’s no beating heart underneath his tough exterior. Also, Jai Courtney is not a particularly likeable or memorable actor, even going back to his breakout roles in A Good Day to Die Hard and Terminator: Genisys.

5 WANT: DIABLO

Jay Hernandez’s Diablo may have the lamest powers, but he is also the most nuanced, interesting and human character in the movie. As a former gang member, he has to deal with his criminal past and the regrets he has about it. He’s the only member of Task Force X who isn’t a mindless psychopath.

Diablo is tortured by his former violent ways and he wants to avoid fighting as much as possible, whereas the rest of the team just jump right in and try to get as much blood on their hands as they can. Diablo’s different, and that’s why he needs to return in the sequel.

4 DON'T WANT: THE JOKER

No one can accuse Jared Leto of being a lazy actor. The guy commits. He’s an Academy Award-winner and he’s famous for not breaking character when he’s on a film set. But the problem with his Joker in Suicide Squad is that it’s impossible not to make comparisons with Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight. Ledger, along with the movie’s writers, cinematographers, and makeup team, nailed that character. It was perfect. No movie Joker will ever be better -- it can only be different.

Leto’s tattoos and neater hairstyle helped to differentiate the look, but he didn’t play the character any differently than Ledger. Joaquin Phoenix’s upcoming low-budget character study of the Joker as a failed standup comic in the ‘80s at least looks like a new take on the character. Frankly, the DCEU should ditch Leto and see where that goes. The Joker’s only purpose in the first Suicide Squad was to be the lead, but we have Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn for that now.

3 WANT: DEADSHOT

Suicide Squad touched on Floyd Lawton’s double life as a loving father by day and expert assassin by night, but it would be great to see the sequel delve deeper into this. Plus, Will Smith hasn’t been a particularly in-demand movie star for a few years. If he takes the Deadshot role seriously and runs with it, it could give Smith the same sort of comeback the role of Iron Man gave Robert Downey, Jr.

When Downey finally leaves the MCU, he’ll have offers to star in every movie ever getting made for the rest of time. It’s time Will Smith got his groove back like that.

2 DON'T WANT: KILLER CROC

Killer Croc is one of Batman’s scariest villains -- at least he can be. In certain comic books, he is huge and menacing, he lurks around the sewers and he has the eyes of a soulless monster. Suicide Squad was the first time he’d been depicted on the big screen and fans were excited to see how David Ayer would execute him. However, they were resoundingly disappointed with the lame duck they got.

He’s used as a comedic punching bag and his only defining trait is his affinity for BET. He was basically characterized as a rip-off of Drax the Destroyer, albeit without the balancing badassdom. If Killer Croc is back in the sequel, he’d better be drastically rewritten.

1 WANT: HARLEY QUINN

It’s no wonder Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn has been given all kinds of spin-offs and side-quels outside the Suicide Squad franchise, because she was one of the only parts of the first movie that people actually liked. Her thick Brooklyn accent, her manic bubblegum energy, and her pitch-perfect blend of lovability and psychopathy combined to make her the breakout star of the movie. Not only should she be brought back in the Suicide Squad sequel – she should be front and center.

While Robbie is off making Birds of Prey and Gotham City Sirens and her own solo Harley Quinn movie, she should still make the time to come back and fix the property where it all began, in TheSuicide Squad.